UU St. Pete InfoNet: October 12, 2018

The times they are a'changin'. Just look at the clock - no, the digital one ticking off milliseconds faster than sand through an egg-timing hour glass. What is calling the shots? Whose side is it on? Is there a cost for not knowing?

Nursery care is provided in Conway Hall from 10:15am - noon for infants through preschool by Laura and Dani.

Families will begin in the worship service together at 10:30am and school age children and youth will go to their groups after Time for All Ages. Our theme for this month is Sanctuary and today we will focus on stories and activities about sanctuary within, including special meditation activities with Ciara Bagley. (see workshop announcement too)

Rev. Karen Day, RE Family Minister, is available to talk with you after the service or Thursday pa-5. Contact Karen at re@uustpete.org.

For our Adults that are interested in Meditation with Children: Ciara Bagley, Melrose teacher and certified mindfulness meditation leader, will share suggestions for effective ways to meditate with children of all ages this Sunday, October 14, 11:45am - 1:00pm, upstairs in Conway Hall.

November 2: Showered and Empowered, a mobile shower, is coming to the Friday Night Picnic. We need 12 volunteers to assist efficient flow of guests, power wash the showers in between use and hand out supplies.

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MARCILE POWERS’ MOTHER NANCY next Saturday, October 20, 2:00pm at UUSP.

CONSIDERING UU ST. PETE MEMBERSHIP or curious about our tradition? Attend the two-session Inquirers Class after Sunday services October 21 and October 28 to get all your questions answered (and meet folks). Sign up at the Welcome Table or with Patti at pthanks1@gmail.com

UUSP CHOIR SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Already a choir participant or interested in joining UUSP’s voice and/or bell choir? The voice choir rehearses with UUSP’s music director Jon Arterton Sundays at 9:15am before the service; bell choir Tuesdays in Conway Hall at 6:45pm. Jon’s choir philosophy is that “the world would be a much saner place if everyone sang.” So all our voices have a place in the choir!

OCTOBER 14 FOR CHILDREN AND PARENTS, 1:30pm at Florida CraftArts: UU St. Pete member Katie Deits would like to inform UUSP parents and children of a new program series at Florida CraftArts, 501 Central Avenue (where Katie is executive director) - Creative Discovery Workshops for Children and Families. Today’s workshop: Creating Ceramic Clay Pendants (to wear or give) – project to be completed at November 11 paper beading workshop. Reservations at FCA (727) 821-7381 – cost $5 per member, $10 per non-member. Scholarships available. Children must be accompanied by an adult who may also take the class if space is available.

CORRECTION: The awesome concert to which Pastor Jack referred in the October 2 sermon was performed by The Florida Orchestra. (Thank you to the careful listener who spotted the incorrect identification.)

MONDAY EVENING MEDITATION (an experiment through October at least), 5:30-6:15pm. Facilitator: long time meditator and yoga instructor, UUSP member Mimi Anzel.

WEDNESDAY RELIGIOUS STUDIES DISCUSSION: This Wednesday, the third of three Unitarian sermons that changed religion and culture in America: “Permanent and Transient in Christianity” by Theodore Parker (1841). Please let Pastor Jack know if you would like to receive the full text of the sermon. As usual, quotes excerpted from the text will be emailed and available at the discussions. Pastor Jack

THURSDAY CITIZENS CAFÉ 11:30am – 1:00pm (the third of our experiments at least through October) to chat about the news of the day – and perhaps write a politician or two (wi-fi, pens, paper, envelopes provided along with officials’ addresses). Coffee/Tea provided; BYO Lunch if desired. Questions to Pastor Jack - jfdonovan@bellsouth.net

STARTING THIS SUNDAY EVENING, October 14, 6:30pm - UUSP Play Reading/Discussion Group. Facilitators: Jean and Denis Calandra (calandra@usf.edu) First 2 meetings: October 14 and October 28 in UUSP’s social hall 6:30 – 8:30 PM. The first play is Helen Edmundson’s THE HERESY OF LOVE, based on the life of 17th Century nun Juana Inez de la Cruz living in colonial Mexico, striving to reconcile love of God, the free life of the mind, and the Spanish Inquisition. Shared scripts provided at reading. If buying, get (2015) 2nd edition: ISBN 781848424937.

LEIF NISSEN MEMORIAL SOCIAL JUSTICE LECTURE SERIES presents “Story Telling for Social Justice” -featuring award-winning novelist and journalist Ana Menendez - Friday, November 16. Supported by the Temple Beth-El Social Justice Action Committee and co-sponsored by UU St Pete. You are welcome at the 7:30pm Shabbat service, the 8:15pm lecture and Q/A with Ms. Menendez and dessert to follow.

AUDIOS OF UUSP SERMONS: The Worship Committee as been working to making the Sunday experience accessible beyond attending the Service. Please visit UUSP's website, click the Spirituality tab, click Worship Services and Sermons. Scroll down the services and you will see "Sermons and Readings." For audio recordings, click on a Sunday Service and look for the sound icon

After our Sunday service, "Equal Exchange" Fair Traded Coffee, Tea and Chocolate will be available for your purchasing pleasure. These products are regularly available the 2nd & 4th Sundays of each month. (Dates may vary during the summer, holidays and special events.)

And remember, when you purchase the fair trade products that are available here, you are helping to support small farmers around the globe, you are helping the UUSC continue its commitment to their human rights, you are helping our church community to live our mission, and you are getting an excellent product at a fair price.

Old, New, and Expecting Parents: Looking to connect with other parents in a small-group setting? Twice a month, the Parents' Covenant Group hits pause on our hectic family schedules and goes deep on parent-y and non-parent-y topics. Our next meeting is Saturday, October 20, from 11am - 1pm upstairs at church. Child care provided by request. Contact Michael Pohl or Morgan Gresham for more info.

Our Unitarian Universalist Association is partnering with Second Chances Coalition to advocate passage for Amendment 4 that will restore voting rights to felons who have served their time. If you want to help here are some opportunities:

Stop by the Voter Table during coffee hour. Handouts from forum on Education will be available as well as key Voter dates from the Supervisor of Elections and the League of Women Voters’ — Voter Guide. If you have questions or would like to provide some additional educational materials, please coordinate with Karen Coale.

UU St. Pete and the League of Women Voters are co-sponsoring a series of educational forums to prepare you to vote knowledgeably in the upcoming November election.

The first, Local Control of Education and Restorative Practices for Students, was held on October 2. Presentations were given by the League's Education Co-Chair iris Yetter, and our own Pat Fling and Rev. Karen Day. Event moderator was Karen Coale. If you could not attend — pick up the very informative handouts on the VOTER Table in Gilmour Hall after service.

Mark your calendar for the next two sessions:

October 16: Gun Safety: Join members of the LWVSPA gun safety action team, We the Students, Inc., Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and community activists to learn about gun safety issues, effective legislative solutions and how your vote in November can make a difference. Speakers are:

Emily Handsel & Kayla Dixon We the Students Inc.

Jan Neuberger Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence

Rev. Carlos Senior New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, St. Petersburg

Sharon Winters LWVSPA Gun Safety Action Team Lead

October 23: Amendments to the FL Constitution

In the UU St. Pete sanctuary; at 7:00pm — FREE and open to the public. Join us and bring your friends. Become informed before you vote, and remember that every election is determined by the people who show up. We are counting on YOU!

Let all those folks that would like to celebrate Thanksgiving with each other come to our annual UUSP Thanksgiving Dinner, Thursday, November 22 at 2pm in Gilmour Hall. It's a potluck affair, so brush off those traditional recipes, although you don't need to bring a dish to join in the festivities.

There are two sign up sheets on the piano in Gilmour Hall; one to help with the decorations the day before, and one to sign up for the dinner. Please note your name, email address, phone number, what you would like to tentatively bring and how many people will be attending with you. We will verify the final list of food and the approximate number of people well in advance of the dinner.

As we mentioned you don't have to bring a dish to participate, but we do need to make sure we have enough food for all, so please sign the sheet if you want to attend. If there are any questions please contact Kevin Wamboldt at 727 894-6628 or text only at 727 452-6818 or email at kwam4181@gmail.com.

Movies, like poetry and music, are rich with themes important to all of us today, but they communicate with us in unique ways. UUSP would like to offer opportunities to explore relevant themes and issues through the art of movies. The structure would be to select quality movies from different periods, genres, or directors which examine a particular idea or theme. Quotes and questions would be provided after the movies are viewed so that we can each personally think about what the movie says about the ideas and themes. Participants would the come together a week later for discussions (similar to the Wednesday book discussion sessions). Depending on the number of participants, movies could be shown at UUSP, or possibly at someone’s home. Popcorn will of course be provided!

In order to launch the Movie Discussion Group, I’d like to invite another movie buff to help organize and facilitate. I also need to know who is interested in participating. If you’d like to participate or help organize, please let Paul Burnore know at plburnore@gmail.com.

Parking lot construction has been delayed many months due to an error by the City in entering basic property information. The City has now corrected this error. Final permits for WJA’s parking lot construction can now be processed. The latest estimate is that construction will begin within 1-3 months. So that the congregation will be kept up to date, further updates will be published as we receive more information.

We would like to remind everyone that we need more folks to step up and agree to bring flowers on Sundays. Just stop by the Sunday Flowers table during coffee hour after service (usually at the piano in Gilmour) and pick a date that works for you to maybe commemorate a birthday, anniversary, special event, in memory of, etc...

Reach out to Jim Fitzgerald if you have questions or to sign up. We love seeing the flowers each week.